Most common household and even commercial water heaters are either not fastened to their enclosure or are fastened with simple straps that allow independent movement of the water heater in the structure. During an earthquake or other disaster the unfastened water heater can move and break water and gas or electric lines connected to it. If the water heater is loosely fastened, the fastener can easily snap as independent motion of the water heater in the structure exceeds the fasteners capability to hold.
Supporting collars, including those that are manufactured with two semi-circular elements have been known in the past, for the support of pipes or pipelines. These pipes often corrode and eventually break off. Such a collar is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,941. These types of collars, however, are not satisfactory to securely fasten an existing water heater to the walls of the structure surrounding the water heater. This is normally due to the fact that the supporting collars as known are fastened to the wall in one or two locations only, and in addition, the supporting structure for a pipe or pipeline is not adequate for the support of a vertically standing hot water tank. Also, the studs in the wall are usually not properly positioned for the hardware.